Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Ketamine: Don’t Believe The Stereotypes, Even If The Police Do
If you have ever had surgery, there is a good chance that you woke up on the operating table, but you do not remember it. The drugs that anesthesiologists administer do more than make you sleep. Some of them decrease your heart rate and breathing rate, temporarily putting you in a hibernation-like state, while… Read More »
You Can Get A DUI Even If You Are Not Driving
Sleeping in your car after a night of drinking is a lot less dangerous than attempting to drive home while you are drunk, but no good deed goes unpunished. Under certain circumstances, you can get a DUI conviction even if you were drunk in a motor vehicle, even if you were not driving and… Read More »
Failure To Report Child Abuse Or Neglect
If you get arrested on suspicion of a crime, it is easy to be indignant and to insist that you did not do anything. In some cases, that is exactly the problem. Several laws in Florida criminalize something that people don’t do instead of something that they do. For example, you can get criminal… Read More »
Why You Should Hire A Lawyer To Fight Your Traffic Ticket
The hidden costs of getting a criminal conviction become obvious once a judge hands down your sentence. Not only do you have to pay fines, but depending on the nature of your sentence, you might have to pay fees associated with probation or GPS monitoring. If you get sentenced to community service, you will… Read More »
Can You Restore Your Voting Rights After A Felony Conviction In Florida?
When a judge hands down your sentence, you might begin counting the days until you can do all the things you used to enjoy, and which you used to take for granted. If your sentence involves prison, you look forward to your release, when you can sit at your family’s dinner table again. If… Read More »
Xylazine, The Non-Opioid That Just Made The Opioid Epidemic Even Scarier
In Florida, you can get in big trouble for selling a small quantity of drugs, but you can get into much bigger trouble if the person who bought the drugs dies from an overdose as a result of consuming them. Most buyers of street drugs are not sure what they are buying, and street-level… Read More »
Money Laundering In Florida: Beyond The Stereotypes
We all know the stereotypes about money laundering. Maybe you have eaten dinner in a restaurant that has been open for years in a part of town where the rent must be sky high and wondered how it can possibly stay open unless it is a front for an illegal business. Perhaps, after binge-watching… Read More »
Florida Criminal Mischief Laws
The word “mischief” sometimes carries the connotation of harmless fun, such as the exchange of joke gifts or piling up pennies from floor to ceiling outside the dorm room of the student who usually sleeps in late enough for his neighbors to be able to pull off such a stunt. In the context of… Read More »
Receiving Stolen Property In Florida
Everything is so expensive these days that it only makes sense to jump at the opportunity to buy something when you find it for sale at an affordable price. Be careful when someone tries to sell you something at rock bottom prices, though. When something seems too good to be true, it probably is,… Read More »
When Can The Court Order You To Forfeit Assets?
Every year at tax time, people love to complain about the government taking their hard-earned money. With the exception of tax obligations, all the money you earn or inherit and all the property you acquire is yours to keep, as long as you acquired it legally. This has probably never happened to you, unless… Read More »